Five people were shot the night before Saturday, April 29, 2023, in Cleveland, TX. Authorities say an 8-year-old child was among five people killed in a shooting at the home in southeast Texas late Friday night. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Police were searching Saturday for a suspect they say killed five of his neighbors, including an 8-year-old boy, in an "execution-style" shooting with an AR-style rifle after one of the victims asked him to stop shooting in his front yard because his baby was trying to sleep.
The shooting occurred before midnight Friday in Cleveland, Texas, north of Houston, the San Jacinto County Sheriff's Department said. Authorities said 10 people were in the home and that five had died.
San Jacinto Sheriff Greg Capers told the Associated Press said the victims, who have not been identified, were shot in the head. Two female victims were found laying over their children "in such an effort as to protect the child," Capers told the AP.
Some of the children were found covered in blood and taken to a hospital where doctors determined they were unharmed, officials said. The victims' names were not released.
Authorities were searching for Francisco Oropeza, 38, who they say used an AR-style rifle and was intoxicated at the time of the attack, Capers told the AP.
One of the dead victims had asked Oropeza to stop firing his rifle in the front yard because his baby was trying to sleep, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Oropeza allegedly stopped, went inside his home, reappeared and started shooting again, according to the Chronicle.
Authorities said a SWAT team swept through several properties nearby and determined the suspect had fled the county. A judge issued a warrant with a $5 million bond for his arrest, authorities said.
Francisco Oropeza in images released by the FBI.
It all went down before midnight Friday when deputies said they were responding to a harassment call. While on the way, officials said the communications center received multiple 911 calls of an active shooter.
Once there, deputies found multiple people dead in a home and several others in critical condition from multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said. Officials said the 8-year-old boy was flown to a trauma center, where he died.
Three others were hospitalized. Two other people inside the home were evaluated for wounds and released. Their names were not immediately released.
